Towel or clothes hanger



Sept. 5, 1950 A. PROVOST TOWEL OR CLOTHES HANGER Filed Jan. 29, 1948 39m 05 Proves? Patented Sept. 5, 1950 UNITED'SQTATES PATENT OFFICE Amos Provost, Johnson City, N. Y.

Application January 29, 1948, Serial No. 5,024

This invention relates to hangers and more particularly to a spring-pressed hanger for removably supporting towels or clothing.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved hanger of the kind to be more particularly described hereinafter which is formed with a spring-pressed ball held against a rear supporting plate by a spring which also forms a guide means for the ball. The ball is disposed within the spring guides for rolling or sliding movement therein.

Another object of this invention is to provide animproved hanger of this kind which is so constructed and arranged that it may be readily manufactured and assembled with a minimum number of machines and labor and which will result in a very efiicient and attractive hanger.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a towel or clothes hanger of this kind within which the towel may be readily inserted and from which the towel may be removed by a downward pull. Any excess downward force on the material engaged in this hanger will release the material as distinguished from the ripping orjtearing result when a towel or the like is removed in this way from a conventional type of hook.

A further object of this invention is to provide a towel rack which will take up a minimum amount of space on a wall or door or other place of installation while providing a readily accessible and secure rack.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specifications, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a towel hanger constructed according to an embodiment of this invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-4 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detailed section taken on the line i l of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I0 designates generally a towel hanger or rack provided with a movable or sliding clamp for resiliently securing a towel or garment therefrom. The towel hanger III is formed with a rectangular flat supporting base I I upon which the clamping ball I2 is loosely secured.

The ball I2 is slidably or rotatably contained between the inner and outer guide members of a 1 Claim. ('01. 24-244) v 2 spring guide I4 fixed on the supporting plate II. The supporting plate I l is formed with outwardly offset upper and lower ends I5 and I6 respectively.

The plate I l intermediate the length thereof is adapted to be secured to a wall or other fixed supporting members by screws H or other suitable fastening devices which may engage through openings Ila in the plate II.

The offset flanges I5 and I6 are formed with outwardly extending arms I8 and I9 respectively. The fianges I5 and I6 are substantially parallel to the center of the plate II., extending outwardly therefrom. The outwardly extending arms I8 and I9 are formed with openings 20 and ZI respectively.

' The guide member M' which supports the ball I2 on the supporting plate II is formed of an elongated length of wire bent upon itself to the required shape. The wire or guide M is first bent at the center thereof to form a U-shaped outer guide member 22, having an arcuate bight 2 4 and a pair of substantially parallel upwardly extending arms 25. The wire is bent at the upper end of the arms 25 into a coil spring 26. The reverted coil spring 26 is continued to form a pair of inner or rear downwardly convergent bars 21 behind the front guide member 22.

The guide bars 21 are substantially a pair of downwardly extending arms. forming a continuation of the spring 26 carried by the upper end of the arms 25 of the outer guide member 22. The inner guide bars 21, formed of the downwardly extending arms, extend through the openings 20 and 2I of the offset ends I5 and I6 of the plate I I for securing the ball guide member I4 to the plate II.

The bars 21 are adapted to underlie the flanges I5 and it of the plate ll, extending through the outwardl extending arms I9 and overlying the center portion of the plate I I. The bars 21 overlying the plate I I provide or form the inner guide member for the ball I2 to hold. the ball from rolling or sliding to the side and from the hanger Ill.

The spring 26 constantly urges the lower ends of the outer guide member 22 toward th lower end l6 of the plate II. As the arms or bars 21 and 25 extend substantially tangentially from the coil spring 26, the spring provides a means for spacing apart the upper ends of the guide members 22 and 27. The engagement of the arms 2'! through the openings 20 and 2| of the plate II provides for securing these arms in a fixed spaced relation to each other.

For fixedly spacing the arms 25 of the guide member 22 from each other, a connecting bar 28 is fixed across the upper end of the guide member 22 and is fixedly secured at its opposite ends to the arms 25. The lower end of the guide member 22 which is formed by the bight 24 is ofiset inwardly from the arms 25, extending at a downwardly and inwardly inclined angle thereto. This offset lower end will space the lower end of the guide members 22 and 2.! from each other so that the spring tension on the ball I2 will not be excessive when the ball is disposed at this point.

The lower end I8 of the plate II is extended slightly and also inclined inwardly at a slight angle where the bight 24 is in engagement with it.

The ball I2 which is adapted to clamp a towel between the plate I l and the inner surface of the ball I2 is loosely disposed between the inner and outer guide members so that it may freely roll or slide therebetween for a portion of the length of the guide I 4.

The chord of the ball'I2' where the ball underlies th arms 25- of the outer guide member 22 is substantially less than the space between the inner and outer guide members 22 and'Z'I at their upper end'adjacent the spring 26 so that the ball I2 is exceedingly loose at this point. As the ball is moved downwardly relative to the hanger ID the arms 25 come into engagement resiliently with the chord of the ball for'urging the ball I2 clampingly towardthe inner guide member 21 and plate I I for clamping the towel between the ball-and the plate II.

In the use and operation of this towel hanger ID a towel may be clamped by moving the ball I2 outwardly from its lower end and inserting the towel. between theball and the plate and releasing the ball so that it may clamp the towel. Another manner in which the-towel may be inserted is to engage a corner of the towel above the ball I2 between the inner and outer guides 21 and 22 and sliding thev towel'downwarclly behind the ball. For removing the towel it is necessary only to exert adownward or side force on the towel sufficient to overcome the spring tension 45 which forces the ball l2 against the plate II. The sprin tension of the coil spring 26 may be just enough to hold a towel against its own weight and sufiicient to permit the towel to be drawn from the hanger upon the application of a slight excess force.

What I claim is:

A towel rack comprising a base plate of rectangular configuration adapted to be disposed in vertical position on a support, forwardly projecting extensions at the upper and lower ends of said plate, each extension having a pair of openings therein, an upper flange projecting from the upper extension in parallel relation to said plate, a lower flange projecting downwardly and rearwardly, a U-shaped resilient ball guide wire forwardly of said plate and formed with a rearwardly bent lower portion, a coil at the upper end of each side of said guide wire, and a pair of downwardly projecting bars integral with said coilsand extended through said openings, said bars engaging on the rear sides of said flanges and engaging on the forward side of said base plate; said bars being disposed in downwardly convergent relation, a towel clamping ball disposed between the legs of said guide and said bars, and, a connecting strap fixed between the side of said guide adjacentsaid coils forholding said sides against spreading;

AMOS PROVOST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 304,188 Eastman Aug. 26', 1884 323,262 Blinzler July 28, 1884 381,608 Beisonhert Apr. 24-, 1888 557,872, Pelster Apr. 7, 1896 652,630 Pefi'er June 26, 1900 1,179,003 Haley Apr. 11, 1916 1,257,406 Sauerman Feb. 26, 1918 Kamrath Jan. 1, 1924 

